For Fox Sake
by Transient Joy
Summary: Wherein Boruto overhears a drunken tale about Uchiha Sasuke and makes the mistake of repeating it to Sarada.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Boruto lay on his back with his arms tucked beneath his head, as he enjoyed the warmth from the sun which hung low in the sky. He could already tell it would be a blistering hot day but until then he relished the mild early morning temperature. The park was empty and it would be hours before the screaming children who usually frequented it arrived. Boruto relaxed and enjoyed the sound of chirping birds who made their morning migration. It was rare that he got moments of peace like this and he wanted to make the most it.

A figure blocked the incoming light casting a long shadow and Boruto tensed, squinting his eyes only to relax as he recognized the individual interrupting his relaxation.

"Eh, what's this? Are you taking a leaf out of Shikadai's book now?" asked Sarada.

Boruto closed his eyes lazily and blew an errand strand of blond hair off his face. "Maybe. I can see why he likes this so much."

Sarada huffed and Boruto didn't need to open his eyes to know she was crossing her arms.

After a minute of standing and glaring at Boruto, she realised he wasn't going to move anytime soon so she plopped herself down gracefully on the damp grass, mindful of her exposed legs. Lately Boruto's gaze had the tendency to wonder over her exposed skin almost as if he...

Sarada shook her head trying to clear her wild thoughts. She was being ridiculous. Boruto probably thought she was cold or something. After all he had offered her his jacket several times after their training had run late during the evenings while he walked her home.

The sun had caught Boruto's face and Sarada couldn't help notice the way the light captured his features. With his eyes closed and his face lacking his frequent scowl he look younger and relaxed. He had long eyelashes which she grudgingly thought were wasted on a boy. They were a shade darker than the blond of his hair.

Boruto's trademark spiky hair was tousled from laying on it and Sarada resisted the strange urge to run her fingers through them. She idly wondered whether they were as soft and silky as his little sister's hair.

Sarada had played hairdresser and dress up with Himawari when she was tasked with watching her. Himawari was a delightful little girl and Sarada didn't mind babysitting her when Hinata-obasan asked.

Boruto could feel Sarada's gaze on him and became curious when it went on longer than what was polite. She did that sometimes when he trained too…

"Whaddya keep looking at me for? Is there something on my face?" Boruto asked, cracking an eye open.

Sarada blushed, the colour stark against her fair skin, and Boruto couldn't help but notice the red followed the column of her neck down to the hemline of her dress.

Boruto averted his eyes quickly and sat up, dusting the grass caught in his hair.

Sarada scowled and pulled at a clump of weeds roughly, spraying soil all over her. She dusted her dress carefully and wracked her brain for a response to Boruto's question. What was wrong with her? Why was she getting so tongue tied? This was just _stupid_ _Boruto._

"So where's Mitsuki?" Boruto asked, trying not to look very interested.

"He's training with his...parent," Sarada answered slowly, choosing her words carefully.

Boruto scoffed. "Must be nice for him."

Sarada frowned at the bitterness in Boruto's tone.

"I thought things were going well with your father and you. Haven't you sorted out your issues with him?"

Boruto's frown softened slightly. "Yeah, he's been around more and stuff. But it's still not the same as it was when I was little, before-"

"Before he became Hokage? Leader of Konohagakure no Sato, one of the five great nations?"

Boruto shot her a look. "What about your father?"

Sarada paused, gazing out at the clear blue sky. There were a scattering of clouds drifting slowly and she could pick out individual shapes. One of them looked like a kunai.

"He's trained you. You know what he's like," Sarada finally answered.

A strange look appeared on Boruto's face and suddenly he shifted closer to her.

Sarada tensed when their hands touched, a jolt of electricity passing through them.

She moved an inch away from him, suddenly very interested on a loose thread on her on her dress.

Sarada missed the way Boruto's face fell at her reaction to his proximity.

An awkward silence had erupted between them and Sarada desperately wanted to break it. She blurted out the first thing she thought of. "I saw your sister training the other day."

Boruto's face lit up and he grinned. The awkward atmosphere dissipated, Boruto loved talking about his sister.

"Oh yeah, she's been learning to use her Byakugan. Hima's really good too, and I'm not just saying that cuz she's my sister. She's awesome and she already knows her katas too. She way ahead of the other kids her age-"

A giggle escaped Sarada before she could stop it and she clapped a hand over her mouth a second too late.

Boruto stopped short, bewildered at Sarada's reaction.

"What's so funny?" he frowned.

Sarada shook head. "Nothing. You just get so animated when you talk about Himawari."

Boruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. The Seventh Hokage did that too, Sarada noticed. Boruto must have learnt it from his father.

A small betraying voice at the back of her head whispered, 'Are you anything like your father?'

After all the time Sarada had spent with her father, she still felt like she didn't know him. It was as if the shields he kept up to keep people out extended to her too.

Sarada forced herself to clear her thoughts. Now wasn't the time to think of such gloomy thoughts. No, she would save it until she was alone in her bedroom, late at night, with no-one around her to see the traitor tears fall down her face.

"…and well she is my sister after all, ya know. I love her and stuff." Boruto shifted uncomfortably at the last remark.

Sarada couldn't help but smile. He was such a boy. Talking about his feelings and even admitting he loved his little sister made him squirm like any other boy their age.

"It must be nice having a sister."

Boruto caught the wistfulness in her tone easily. "Do you want a sibling?"

Sarada frowned, unsure of her answer. Did she want a sibling? Sarada could recall when she was much younger asking her mother why she was an only child. Her mother had given her a vague answer and waved her off to play and Sarada had thought nothing of it again.

Thinking about it now, Sarada couldn't even remember what her mother had said to her. It wasn't an uncommon thing for a married couple to only have one child.

Her classmates, Shikadai, Inojin and Chōchō were all only children. The only difference was that they hailed from clans with numerous members. As far as Sarada knew, the only Uchiha's left were her, her father and her mother through marriage.

For a long time it was just her mother and her at home. Sakura had been a constant presence in her daughter's life, day and night, until she deemed Sarada old enough to cope with her absences and retreated to the hospital where she excelled with her prodigal Iryō-nin training.

Sarada supposed it might have been nice if she had a sibling to spend the lonely hours with when her mother was at the hospital and her father still on his long term mission away from the village.

"I wouldn't have minded a sibling," Sarada answered at last.

Boruto arched an eyebrow. Sarada couldn't help but notice how perfectly sculpted it grew. It was another thing about him that was unfair. Boruto probably didn't notice or didn't even care whereas Sarada had to take great pains in waxing and plucking her eyebrows till they lay neatly. Just because she was a kunoichi didn't mean she didn't take pride in her appearance.

"It's probably not too late to have a younger sibling," Boruto said and cringed when he realised what he implied.

 _'Huh...well, he wasn't wrong_ ,' Sarada thought. Her mother was still young enough to bear a healthy child and now that her father was back in the village…

"Maybe you should ask for a sibling," snorted Boruto. His face displayed only humour but his neck was flushed.

Sarada blanched at the thought of asking her parents for a sibling. She would never be able to get through the conversation. Just trying to imagine sitting her parent's down on the couch, with her father's impassive face watching her carefully and her mother's cheery smile urging her on to voice her request, sent chills down her spine.

"Baka, I can't do that," said Sarada rolling her eyes. In a softer voice she added, "I just wished they had child before me. I think I would have liked an older sibling."

Boruto opened his mouth and closed it quickly.

Sarada noticed. "What?"

Boruto avoided her eyes and mumbled, "Nothing."

He was biting his lip, something he only did when he was nervous. Sarada wondered if it was strange that she knew these idiosyncrasies about him. Absentmindedly she pondered if he knew any about her.

"Just spit it out, Boruto."

Boruto huffed. "It's nothing, dattebasa."

Sarada growled, punching him lightly. "Don't be annoying, just tell me."

Boruto winced and Sarada couldn't tell if it was from her punch or not. Maybe she was a tad bit overstrung lately.

Boruto studied her face carefully and Sarada couldn't help growing warm at his gaze. Sarada let out a small sigh of relief when he looked away, finding whatever it was he was looking for on her face.

"A couple months ago, Kaa-san sent me to the Hokage's Office to check on Tou-san because he said he'd be coming home early but it was already past Himawari's bedtime by then..."

X

 _Boruto was angry at his father again._

 _This wasn't a new thing for Boruto. Ever since his father had ascended to the mantle of Hokage, he had become a shitty dad._

 _Boruto hated that his father promised that he would train him, and never did._

 _Boruto hated that his father promised he would come home and they would have dinner like a family, but never did._

 _Boruto would scream and swear at his father for all the promises he broke with him, but he could stand it._

 _What he couldn't stand was that his shitty dad broke a promise to his little sister. His father had promised little Himawari that he would be home in time to tell her a bedtime story._

 _He broke that promise._

 _Boruto had to watch his little sister's face fall when their mother explained that Tou-san wouldn't be able to narrate her favourite story of the captured princess and the knucklehead hero._

 _Boruto had clenched his fists as his baby sister put on a brave face and resisted the tears that threatened to fall while their mother read her a bedtime story instead._

 _So when Hinata asked her son to check up on the wayward Hokage, the fiend promise breaker, Boruto was more than happy to comply._

 _With his mother and sister far way at home, Boruto was safe to let out the anger he felt at his father without his mother's pleas to not fight with him._

 _Only when Boruto has made it to the Hokage's Office, a lone chunin on desk duty informed him that the esteemed Hokage had taken leave hours ago and was at a nearby bar._

 _Boruto had nearly lost his temper then, his nails clenched hard enough into fists to draw blood. With vicious thoughts running through his head he memorised the directions and ran to the said establishment his father had chosen to spend his time at instead of at home where his baby sister had waited for him as long as she could before succumbing to sleep._

 _It was there that he found his father with his head slumped on the counter, dozing into a puddle of drool, still clutching a bottle of sake in his hand. Surrounded around him was a dozen other empty bottles, a testament to how much he had to drink already._

 _Boruto wasn't surprised to find his father surrounded by others. His father by nature was a very sociable person, able to make friends with anyone anywhere._

 _Tonight however he was joined by the retired Rokudaime Hokage and Chōchō's sensei, Mitarashi Anko. Boruto realised his father wasn't the only one drunk as they too were surrounded by empty sake bottles, though nowhere near the amount of his father, but still a significant amount._

 _"Shudn't hav' invit'd Gai," slurred Kakashi. His face was covered but didn't hide all of the tell-tale red of his inebriated state. Even drunk, he clutched his signature orange covered book haphazardly._

 _In the distance, Boruto could make out the green clad man in a wheelchair balancing a number of sake bottles on his head._

 _Anko hiccupped, trying to swot Kakashi and missing by quite distance. "Nonshunshhh, he's gonna pay, remember?"_

 _Kakashi was silence for a second before giggling. Boruto didn't know if it was because of Anko's suggestion or because of his book._

 _Boruto had to rub his eyes a couple times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He never would have thought he would have seen such power jonin reduced to drunken messes._

 _He wondered what his father was like when he was drunk. Boruto eyed his father's slumped form wondering if a couple clones would be able to carry him home._

 _There was no use in screaming at him for his inadequacies as a father if he was too drunk and wouldn't remember it in the morning. Boruto could wait until the next day when his father was nursing a hangover to let out all his anger._

 _Boruto was about to drag his father home, none too gently of course, when he heard something that made him curious. Kakashi and Anko were talking about Sasuke, Sarada's absentee father. As far as Boruto knew, Sasuke had been on a long term mission out the village since Sarada was a baby._

 _"...ya, but Sas'ke's such a tight ass," grumbled Anko._

 _Kakashi tilted unsteadily at his chair and reached for another bottle of sake._

 _Boruto peered eagerly wanting to see if the retired Rokudaime Hokage would take of his mask. His face had had been somewhat of a mystery to the rest of Konoha._

 _Now that he had to drink something, he would have to take it off. It wasn't as if he could drink with it on, could he?_

 _No, that would be ridiculous and unhygienic. Boruto frowned, remembering his mother's ardent lessons on hygiene._

 _Just as Kakashi reached to pull down his mask, the bartender took a long drag of his cigarette and exhaled with a large puff of smoke._

 _By the time the smoke cleared, Kakashi had downed the entire bottle of sake._

 _"Sauce, I mean, Sas'uke isn't a t'ght 'ss cuz he wudn't sleep wi'd you," Kakashi replied._

 _In Boruto's opinion, Kakashi seemed drunker than Anko._

 _"But why won't 'e hav sex wi'd me? Is it cuz I'm fat?" Anko cried._

 _Kakashi attempted to console Anko by patting her shoulder but missed and patted her head instead._

 _"Maa, he's m'rried now," Kakashi said, still patting her head._

 _Anko sniffed, wiping her nose sloppily. "Ya, but 'e wasn't wh'n he turned me d'wn."_

 _Kakashi's patting hand had moved lower. Anko didn't seem to mind. "Wh'n was dat?"_

 _Anko flailed her arm haphazardly. "Y'know, wh'n 'e went on his travels to restore da clan."_

 _Boruto froze. What?_

 _Kakashi blinked. "Who's clan?"_

 _Anko continued nonplussed. "His clan."_

 _Kakashi was silent for a while, he looked as if he were deep in thought. "Sauce? Nahh…"_

 _Anko frowned. "I'm tell'in ya. Dat's wh't 'e was doin'. Makin' a bunch of Uchiha babies, lef r'yt and centre." Anko bit her lip and paused then started giggling._

 _Kakashi hiccupped. "W'll dat was alw'ys his goal."_

 _Boruto's mouth had fallen open somewhere during the conversation. He had to pinch himself to check that he wasn't dreaming._

 _Was that what Sarada's father was doing on his long term mission. Boruto gasped, what that his long term mission? To restore the Uchiha clan? It wasn't as if there were any other Uchiha in the village?_

 _Did Sarada know? No, of course not._

 _Boruto wondered if Sakura-obasan knew. Was she fine with it? What if she didn't know either? No, she had to know. Sasuke was her husband after all._

 _Boruto's father suddenly jerked up as if he was shocked._

 _"Uchiha babies," he muttered before slumping back on the counter, already fast asleep._

X

"So cheer up, Sarada. Somewhere out there are the siblings you wanted," grinned Boruto.

Sarada had remained quiet throughout Boruto's recount of the story. Slowly her hand inched to her weapons pouch.

"Eh? Sarada, why did you activate your Sharingan?"

Boruto threw his hands up in defence and started backing away as Sarada started leaking killing intent.

"BORUTO!"


End file.
